One of the most common problems doctors want help with is dealing with canceled or rescheduled appointments. If a doctor’s office has too much of this occurring it can wreak havoc on their daily production. Normally, when this is occurring it is a sign that the receptionist is not properly trained in scheduling appointments, managing the appointment book, or handling cancelations and rescheduling.

When you are getting a high volume of cancelations, you should ask yourself these questions:

Does your receptionist ask the patient/client to put the appointment in their calendar, phone, or day planner so they won’t forget?

Do you keep a record of the reasons behind cancelations for future reference and to implement any needed corrections?

Do you have any sort of policy regarding cancelations that is part of the “welcome to the practice” information given to patients/clients?

If you have such policy, do you enforce it?

Here are some other questions you should ask yourself as regards appointment no-shows:

What actions do you take when someone doesn’t show up for an appointment?

Do you call the patient/client after a certain length of time, e.g., 10-15 minutes?

Do you have any sort of policy regarding no-shows that is part of the “welcome to the practice” information given to patients/clients?

If you have such policy, do you show it to no-show patients/clients the next time they come into the practice?

The doctors we deal with are all asked these simple questions, and many more, when they are dealing with cancelations, no-shows, and reschedules. We recommend that you closely evaluate the management systems and training that you have in place with the staff members involved; then, fix or implement the proper procedures to reduce the number of patients/clients lost. This normally leads to increased production without any increase in marketing or staff expense, which, of course, leads to greater efficiency and net income in a practice.

If you would like more help dealing with canceled or rescheduled appointments or any other management topic, fill out the form to the right, and we will be more than happy to assist you.

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